Chirps and Cheeps

As spring is ever so slowly creeping to Orchard Park, I take reassurance that it's coming in that our American Goldfinches are surely changing.  The males are especially becoming more and more beautiful as they lose their winter drabs and don their breeding plumage.  I have some photos taken over the past few weeks to show their progress. You'll have to use your imagination to add their much more animated singing voices!

Factoid: this is the only finch that has a second molt in the spring. All other species in this family have just one molt each year in autumn. They're also one of the latest nesting birds - starting in late June or early July. By this time, most other birds are all done breeding.